Warner Bros. has put Mel Gibson's movie about the biblical figure Judah Maccabee on hold after rejecting the screenplay written by Joe Eszterhas.
After hearing the news, the screenwriter blew a gasket, accusing Mel Gibson of "hating Jews" and using the writer to deflect his anti-Semitic reputation.
Eszterhas said, Gibson announced the project "in an attempt to deflect continuing charges of anti-Semitism which have dogged you, charges which have crippled your career."
He added: "I've come to the conclusion that the reason you won't make ‘The Maccabees' is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews."
And he wasn't done.
In his 9-page letter, Eszterhas claims Mel once ranted about John Lennon, "I'm glad he's dead. He deserved to be shot. He was f**king messianic. Listen to his songs! Imagine. I hate that f**king song. I'm glad he's dead."
Eszterhas claims Mel said said some awful things about his ex, Oksana Grigorieva. The writer claims Mel said, "I want to f**k her in the a** and stab her while I'm doing it."
Mel fired back, claiming the letter is a pack of lies.
HERE'S MEL GIBSON'S RESPONSE:
Joe,
I have your letter. I am not going to respond to it line by line, but I will say that the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications. I would have thought that a man of principle, as you purport to be, would have withdrawn from the project regardless of the money if you truly believed me to be the person you describe in your letter. I guess you only had a problem with me after Warner Brothers rejected your script.
I will acknowledge like most creative people I am passionate and intense. I was very frustrated that when you arrived at my home at the expense of both Warner Brothers and myself you hadn't written a single word of a script or even an outline after 15 months of research, meetings, discussions and the outpouring of my heartfelt vision for this story. I did react more strongly than I should have. I promptly sent you a written apology, the colorful words of which you apparently now find offensive. Let me now clearly apologize to you and your family in the simplest of terms.
Contrary to your assertion that I was only developing Maccabees to burnish my tarnished reputation, I have been working on this project for over 10 years and it was publicly announced 8 years ago. I absolutely want to make this movie; it's just that neither Warner Brothers nor I want to make this movie based on your script.
Honestly, Joe, not only was the script delivered later than you promised, both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft. In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time. The decision not to proceed with you was based on the quality of your script, not on any other factor.
I think that we can agree that this should be our last communication.
Mel
Source
Source 2
Source 3
